Tuesday

We need to learn from the controversy over SMA and the Jordan feature in OK! Magazine

The Wyeth/SMA formula promotion in OK! Magazine with an article about Katie Price/Jordan and her new daughter has certainly generated a lot of attention on infant feeding issues today! Our partner organisations, the National Childbirth Trust and Save the Children, have joined us in reporting the companies to the authorities. They also released a joint report with UNICEF on the need to strengthen the UK law. Baby Milk Action provided images for this from the monitoring project we run on behalf of the Baby Feeding Law Group, a coalition of UK health worker and mother support organisations. You can download the report at:http://www.savethechildren.org.uk/en/41_2670.htm

It often happens when this issue comes to public and media attention that the call for regulation of companies is seen by some as an attack on mothers who formula feed. Headlines such as "Breast-feeding lobby criticises Jordan for infant formula 'stunt'" do not help. An otherwise excellent article was let down by this sensationalism.

---ExtractA baby foods manufacturer has been accused of breaking a ban on advertising formula milk after Jordan was pictured in a magazine using a branded bottle....

Mr Brady said: "How Jordan feeds her child is her decision. No-one should try to make a mother feel guilty about how she feeds her child.

"My anger is directed at SMA, which knows its campaign in OK! Magazine promoting SMA formula breaches marketing requirements adopted by the World Health Assembly.

"It is particularly cynical that this advertisement and celebrity endorsement are being run during World Breastfeeding Week."---extract ends

In the article it states : "SMA denied any deliberate product placement and said it has no commercial relationship with Jordan and had no knowledge of the article or picture before it came out."

The investigation by the authorities will hopefully reveal the truth. Wyeth/SMA is certainly exploiting the controversy to do further marketing, saying in its statement: "Katie Price is simply doing what any new mother does and bonding with her baby whilst feeding" and trying to get information into reports on where to buy the ready-to-feed bottles shown in the product-placement shot. It is not overly suspicious to think this was the intent of such a controversial advertising campaign.

They report: "In a statement, Jordan, real name Katie Price, says she wasn't paid by the company behind the advert - it just happened to appear on the next page. The model says breastfeeding hasn't worked for her but it's a case of everyone to their own thing."

I hope she will be more alert to the impact she can have in future. She is influential and some people will learn from her example. We invite Jordan and all mothers who use formula to support our campaign, which is to protect them as well as to stop breastfeeding from being undermined.

Most mothers who formula feed will use powdered infant formula, not the ready-to-feed pictured in OK! Powdered infant formula is not a sterile product and precautions need to be taken in its preparation. Companies are so far refusing to give mothers the necessary information to reduce risks because they do not want to draw attention to the risks. This is irresponsible and shows how companies put sales before health. Mothers using formula can find the information denied to them by the formula companies in this leaflet from UNICEF:http://www.babyfriendly.org.uk/page.asp?page=115&category=5

Looking at the discussion boards and listening to some of the radio programmes, it is worrying how polarised and charicatured this issue has become in this country. The industry must be rubbing their hands, gleefully hoping that people will see the call for better regulations as an attack on women's rights when it is, in reality, the opposite.

For me the following facts show why there should be a united front for better regulations:

1. According to a government survey 90% of mothers who stopped breastfeeding before 6 months said they wanted to breastfeed for longer. We are not talking about forcing mothers to breastfeed, but empowering them. Everyone says 'breast is best' so why aren't mothers able to breastfeed for as long as they want?

2. If they lived in Sweden the chances are they would have breastfed as long as they wanted. In Sweden 98% of mothers initiate breastfeeding, compared to 76% in the UK. In the UK, rates decline rapidly with less than half of babies (48%) breastfed at 6 weeks.

3. Mothers who use formula are denied essential information on how to reduce risks by the formula companies. The companies cannot be trusted. They need to be regulated. Mothers need independent sources of information.

I recommend anyone who is interested in how to better communicate on this issue should read some of the comments on discussion boards, such as the Radio 1 website. There is something seriously wrong when many posts are saying that breastfeeding is rammed down people's throats and they are made to feel guilty for not breastfeeding, but many other posts are saying they did not have enough information and support to breastfeed successfully.

The Breastfeeding Manifesto campaign, which we back, has 7 points addressing all aspects of what is necessary for mothers to have the support they need.

For the message to come across clearly, however, we campaigners need to ensure all mothers are with us. Not only to protect breastfeeding, but to reduce risks from formula.

I am always keen to hear from members of the public what they think of our campaign messages and aims. Companies have demonstrated repeatedly that they cannot be trusted to give accurate information about formula feeding and as commercial organisations they will inevitably try to increase sales so I am particularly interested in thoughts on how mothers who use formula can obtain the information they need. Materials such as the UNICEF leaflet exist, but do people know about them and why they are important given the lack of required information on labels?

We are alert to the campaign being misrepresented or misconstrued, hence my quote trying to forestall unwarranted criticism. But the discussion around the promotion with the Jordan feature has highlighted, once again, the need for better communication. Let us learn from it.